A Spanish foundation uses lenticular printing to show a different anti-abuse ad to people depending on their height, to convey a secret message to abused children when walking with their abusers. [Gizmodo]

Researchers observe that theta brainwaves are predictors for the ability to overcome ingrained Pavlovian biases, which could help in treating conditions like addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder. [Sci Tech Daily]

Neurohumanities: Breakthrough cross-disciplinary approach, or reductionist field? In other words: Does “how your brain is firing … tell you if something is ironic, metaphorical or meaningful”? The jury is still out. [The Nation]

A redditor projected a circle (ish) on a map of the world and observed some astonishing facts. [io9]

AIMS was founded by TED Prize winner Neil Turok, the director of the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario. Turok founded AIMS in his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, to help bring postgraduate mathematical science instruction to Africa — and help talented students across the continent access higher education without having to go abroad. This past June, 53 students from 17 African countries graduated with the AIMS Postgraduate Diploma in Mathematical Sciences. As Neil Turok said in his TED Prize acceptance talk, “the next Einstein may be found in Africa.”

Supported by the Perimeter Institute’s Global Outreach program, the Canadian government’s $20 million CDN will seed five new AIMS centers across Africa. The government funding will go a long way toward AIMS’ eventual goal of 15 new AIMS centers by 2020, via the Next Einstein Initiative, the project kickstarted by Turok’s 2008 TED Prize win.

What the Higgs does is, it gives mass to the fundamental particles. The whole universe is full of something called the Higgs field, Higgs particles if you will. [Referring to the sketch above] The analogy is that these people in a room are the Higgs particles. Now, when a particle moves through the universe, it can interact with these particles. But imagine someone who’s not very popular moves through the room, and everyone ignores them. They just pass through the room very quickly, essentially at the speed of light. They’re massless.

Now imagine someone incredibly important, and popular, and intelligent … walks into the room, they’re surrounded by people, and their passage is impeded. It’s almost like they get heavy, they get massive. And that’s exactly the way the Higgs mechanism works. The … electrons and the quarks in your body, and in the universe that we see around us, are heavy, they’re massive, because they’re surrounded by Higgs particles. They’re interacting with the Higgs field.

The physicists at the LHC are looking to the Higgs particle to finally explain some mysteries of the universe. And that’s why Dr. Hawking doesn’t really want it to be found, he says:

I think it will be much more exciting if we don’t find the Higgs. That will show something is wrong, and we need to think again. I have a bet of $100 that we won’t find the Higgs.

Above: Professor Stephen Hawking met South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, in Houghton, Johannesburg, today. From left to right are Stephen Hawking, Neil Turok, Nelson Mandela, Pik Botha and David Block. Photograph by Dr Robert Groess.

Professor Stephen Hawking today met with South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela to discuss the NextEinstein initiative — part of Neil Turok’s TED Prize wish to develop math and science talent all over Africa.

The NextEinstein initiative builds on the success of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, AIMS, a pan-African centrer for postgraduate training and research, based in Muizenberg, Cape Town. AIMS has so far graduated 160 young scientists from 30 African countries; 53 students, including 20 women, are currently enrolled.

The Next Einstein plan is to create many AIMS centres all over Africa. The second AIMS centre opens in Abuja, Nigeria, in July and additional centres are planned in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Botswana, Rwanda and Sudan.

Upon meeting Mr Mandela, Professor Hawking said, “I am very pleased to meet you. I admire how you managed to find a peaceful solution to a situation that seemed doomed to disaster. It was one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. If only the Israelis and the Palestinians could do the same.”

In turn, Mr Mandela expressed a great interest in AIMS and a desire to visit the centre.

Professor Hawking leaves tonight for Cape Town to participate in a workshop on cosmology at the new National Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stellenbosch.

Learn more about NextEinstein.org >>Photo Caption: The world’s most famous scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking, met former President Nelson Mandela in Houghton today. Photographed from left to right are Professor Stephen Hawking, Professor Neil Turok, Nelson Mandela, Pik Botha and Professor David Block. Photograph by Dr Robert Groess.

The world’s most famous scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking, today met with former President Nelson Mandela for the first time.

Professor Hawking is in South Africa to launch the Next Einstein initiative, to discover and nurture maths and science talent all over Africa. The initiative builds on the success of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, AIMS, a pan-African centre for postgraduate training and research, based in Muizenberg, Cape Town. AIMS has so far graduated 160 young scientists from 30 African countries and an additional 53 students, including 20 women, are currently completing the programme.

The Next Einstein plan is to create many AIMS centres, all over Africa. The second AIMS centre opens in Abuja, Nigeria, in July and additional centres are planned in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Botswana, Rwanda and Sudan.

Accompanying Professor Hawking were David Block, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Witwatersrand University, Pik Botha, former cabinet Minister in the government led by President Mandela, and Neil Turok, founder of the AIMS institute and Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridge.

Upon meeting Mr Mandela, Professor Hawking said, “I am very pleased to meet you. I admire how you managed to find a peaceful solution to a situation that seemed doomed to disaster. It was one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. If only the Israelis and the Palestinians could do the same.”

Mr Mandela responded by welcoming Professor Hawking and the other visitors, expressing a great interest in AIMS and a desire to visit the centre. The meeting was hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, in Houghton, Johannesburg. At the end of the meeting, Professor Hawking said “It was wonderful to meet you.”

Professor Hawking leaves tonight for Cape Town to participate in a workshop on cosmology at the new National Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stellenbosch. He returns to Cambridge over the weekend.

Stephen Hawking (right) is in South Africa for this event — and to deliver his first-ever lecture in Africa. This all grows out of 2008 TED Prize winner Neil Turok’s wish — that the TED community will help him to educate the next Einstein in Africa. More reports from the AIMS party to come!

Below, AIMS founder Neil Turok receives the support of the South African government at the luncheon.

]]>tedstaffHawkingBarclays.jpgTurokInSA.jpgCelebrating the new AIMS Research Centre in South Africahttp://blog.ted.com/celebrating_the/
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During a two-day festival starting this weekend, Neil Turok, AIMS director Fritz Hahne and the students of AIMS will dedicate the new AIMS Research Centre — and launch a drive to build a dozen more AIMS schools all over Africa. At the party: the head of NASA, two Nobel laureates, poets and musicians, and the 25 amazing students at AIMS, as well as Stephen Hawking, who’s expected to give his first-ever lecture in Africa. Look to the TED Blog and to TEDPrize.org for more reports!

]]>tedstaffAIMSStudents1.jpgAIMSBuilding.JPGAIMSStudents2.jpgThe answer was there all alonghttp://blog.ted.com/the_answer_was/
http://blog.ted.com/the_answer_was/#commentsFri, 04 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0000http://blog-staging.ted.com/2008/04/the_answer_was/[…]]]>
In his TEDTalk released today, physicist Stephen Hawking asks Big Questions about life, the universe and everything. His talk was recorded at Cambridge, in a borrowed classroom — whose well-used blackboard happens to contain the Answer to life, the universe and everything. It’s visible in the upper-right-hand corner of the shot above, and in this inset:Thanks for the tip, Robert Todd!]]>http://blog.ted.com/the_answer_was/feed/9tedstaffSHMathJoke.jpgSHMathJokeInset.jpgQuestioning the universe: Stephen Hawking on TED.comhttp://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_hawking_asks_big_questions_about_the_universe?language=en
http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_hawking_asks_big_questions_about_the_universe?language=en#commentsFri, 04 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0000http://blog-staging.ted.com/2008/04/stephen_hawking/[…]]]>In keeping with the theme of TED2008, professor Stephen Hawkingasks some Big Questions about our universe — How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Are we alone? — and discusses how we might go about answering them.(Recorded March 2008 in Monterey, California, and in Cambridge, UK. Duration: 10:12.)